Going shoulder-to-shoulder

In your opinion, which  sectors of the two countries have shown good bilateral cooperation and which need more work?

The Vietnam-Russia strategic partnership has been developing intensively across the board with higher efficiency. Based on the ever-strengthened bilateral political and diplomatic relationship, the two countries’ multi-faceted cooperation has been boosted, with some strategic cooperation sectors in favour of the two countries’ further development like energy and military techniques.

Energy cooperation has been a highlight in the Vietnam-Russia relationship. This cooperation has also seen many important achievements. Besides the extension of Vietsovpetro joint venture until 2030, the two sides continue expanding the cooperation in exploring and exploiting oil and gas in Vietnam and Russia, and in third countries.

In Vietnam, besides Gazprom and Zarubezhneft, other Russian oil and gas groups like Lukoil and TNK-BP have started operations in Vietnam’s continental shelf.

In Russia, the Rusvietpetro joint venture has exploited the first oil flow at the northern Khosedai mine in September, 2010 and at the Western Khosedai mine in late July, 2012. Meanwhile, the Gazpromviet joint venture has also been actively pushing preparations of operating its first oil mine this year.

Nuclear cooperation is a big breakthrough in the two countries’ operation, with the signing of the inter-government on constructing the first nuclear plant in Vietnam in October, 2010. The two sides are also actively making preparations for safely constructing the Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant No.1 as scheduled, providing a new symbol  of bilateral cooperation in the 21st century.

Military technical cooperation between Vietnam and Russia has also been boosted, contributing significantly to fortifying Vietnam’s national security and defence in particular and regional peace in general, as well as enhancing the status of Russia in the Asia-Pacific.

Though having been actively developing over the past years, the two countries’ economic, trade and investment cooperation still boasts great potential for further development. The bilateral export-import turnover occupies a small part in the total trade turnover of each country. Russia’s investment into Vietnam remains modest, with total registered capital of nearly $1 billion, ranking 23rd out of all foreign countries and territories investing into Vietnam.

Education and training has been a traditional cooperation area between the two countries and greatly contributed to strengthening the bilateral strategic partnership. More than 100,000 [Vietnamese] bachelors, engineers and experts have been trained in Russia which is now home to about 6,000 Vietnamese pupils and students. Each year, about 500-700 Vietnamese students come to Russia to study. I am sure that this figure will continue increasing in the coming time.
Russia has many prestigious universities with high-quality teaching staff and will continue to be selected by Vietnamese students. Especially, the training sectors like energy, military techniques, health care and shipping will create more high-quality workforce for Vietnam. This is also a big opportunity for the two countries’ young generations to exchange knowledge and have better understanding about one another.

Many generations of Vietnamese people used to live, work and study in Russia. And this has deepened the two countries’ friendship. I think that our two countries need to create more favourable conditions for young people from the two sides to further know the life and culture of Vietnamese and Russian people, via cultural events, young people-oriented cooperation forums and festivals.

As an ASEAN member country and a close friend of Russia, what will Vietnam do to expand the relationship between Russia and ASEAN?

The ASEAN-Russia relationship has been developing well. The second ASEAN-Russia meeting organised in October, 2010 created an important landmark for the two sides’ relationship.

Vietnam and the ASEAN highly value Russia’s commitments in strengthening its cooperation with the bloc via its annually contributing $1.5 million to the ASEAN-Russian Federation Dialogue Partnership Financial Fund.

As the first country to act as a coordinator of the ASEAN-Russia relationship when Russia and ASEAN forged relationship in 1996, Vietnam has been actively pushing the cementation of the ASEAN-Russia relationship, for the sake of all sides and for the sake of peace, stability, cooperation and prosperity in the region.

Vietnam will continue contributing to comprehensively riveting the ASEAN-Russia cooperation with higher efficiency based on the ASEAN-Russia Comprehensive Plan of Action to Promote Cooperation between ASEAN and Russia 2005-2015, with a big focus on cooperation in the political-security and economic sectors. Along with Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization, Vietnam strongly supports the negotiations of the ASEAN-Russia free trade agreement.